The Achaemenid Empire, based in Persia (modern Iran), was founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BCE. A multi-ethnic empire, it was the largest that the world had seen up to that point, extending from the Balkans in the west across Anatolia and Egypt to Central Asia and northern India. In the early fifth century BCE, the Achaemenid Emperor Xerxes tried to force the mainland Greeks to submit to Persian power, but his invading forces were turned back at the battles of Salamis and Plataea (479 BCE). At the Battle of Issus (333 BCE) Darius III, the last Achaemenid Emperor, was defeated by Alexander the Great, who claimed the Persian territories.
The Achaemenid ceremonial complex at Persepolis included an enormous columned reception hall called the apadana. It was decorated with stone reliefs depicting subject peoples in procession with tribute offerings. Web resources here and here.
Relief from eastern stairs of the apadana at Persepolis (Takht-e Jamshid, Iran) depicting subjects bringing offerings to the Emperor. Limestone. Late 6th–early 5th c. Photo: .